3/10/08 Episode 3: The News From The WWW - Volunteer HERE!

Austin Grammer · **Voice Talent** Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 39

Episode Two is now available for download! The reads last week sounded great and the longer story lengths were right on! The out tag also sounded great too. Thanks guys! You can listen to previous episodes here: www.austingrammer.com/IRR to have a listen to the one hour program (40MB MP3).

New Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to join! Check out these past threads for background on this project and/or check out the website above:
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic4981.html
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic4876.html
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic5114.html

Instructions:

Select a news article that you would like to read. Create a post in this thread with the title of the article and a link to the article to claim or get "dibs" on that story so no one else will take it, then record the story in Mono 96 or 128k MP3, and then edit your first post and add the recorded article as an attachment and add the runtime in your post so we can track the length of the program (we need one hour worth of material). Please submit your recorded article by Sunday at Noon 3/16/08.

You can pick your own article / news story. Please keep in mind that the target audience is mostly older people with vision issues who already get a lot of the mainstream news from the RIS service through other volunteers reading local and regional newspapers in addition to listening to TV. So I would avoid political and breaking news as those are already covered and change from day to day. Pick articles that will have a week or more of shelf life. Also avoid celebrity gossip, stories of a sexual nature, murder, abuse, etc. Articles that you would feel comfortable reading to someone you just met etc. Articles that are interesting, funny, clever, etc. I have a list at the bottom of this post of some recommended articles for you to get an idea of what I am talking about. Please choose / read articles that are longer than 2 min when read (not including intros). A lot of short articles can be difficult to concentrate on / listen to. Often, you may come across an interesting story or news topic on one website but it is the abbreviated article. If you search the subject of the article on Google News Search, you might be able to find a longer / more in depth article on the subject from another news source. If you can't, please pick another longer article, or, find two similar short articles and read them both and introduce them as such "here are two articles about a popular subject on the web...." "And now another article with a similar but different story". Just use your best judgment. If everyone contributed an article with a average length of 5 minutes, we would only need 12 VO actors contributing on a weekly basis to fill the hour time slot. I'm happy to pick up the slack but would rather hear from more people. You may need to lower the bit rate of your MP3 file in order to keep the file size low enough to upload to the savvy board (less than 5MB)

Here is the script I would like each person to read before reading their article in order to have consistency from one article to the next:

"Hi, this is [MY NAME] from [CITY, STATE] and [YOUR DOT COM WEBSITE (if applicable)] with an article about __________(very short but intriguing summary about the article you chose). PAUSE From [SOURCE], [TITLE OF ARTICLE]. [READ ARTICLE] PAUSE, "For the News From The World Wide Web, I'm [YOUR NAME].

Example:

"Hi, this is Homer Simpson from Springfield, Illinois and homersimpson.com with an article about how one small town is dealing with a skateboarding hooligans. PAUSE From the Springfield Gazette dot com, City Council Outlaws Skateboarding In Downtown: Youth Unhappy" {STORY} "For the News From The World Wide Web, I'm Homer Simpson
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Here are some good places to look for news articles:

The Drudge Report
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Yahoo News Most Popular Stories
http://news.yahoo.com/i/964

Newhouse News Service
http://www.newhouse.com/

AP Wire Top Stories from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/aponline/index.html
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Here are some articles I have come across in the last few of days that I would recommend if you are unsure what to read:

Al Gore's Convenient IPO
http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/mar2008/tc2008035_855093.htm

Poor displaced by Jakarta beautification drive
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/06/asia/jakarta.php

Tons of Food Aid Rotting in Haiti Ports
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080307/D8V893L82.html

Dental patients urged to ask about foreign lab use
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/health/ny-hsdent045601119mar04,0,5266796.story

Sewage-based fertilizer safety doubted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/sludge_poisoned_land;_ylt=ArgqKU0k0s4fH491iA.8bYQDW7oF

On the Campaign Trail, Few Mentions of McCain’s Bout With Melanoma
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/us/politics/09mccain.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=politics&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

To Revive Hunting, States Turn to the Classroom
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/us/08hunting.html?ei=5087&em=&en=238ffe0b3ddf1e49&ex=1205125200&pagewanted=print

Cattle Rustlers Still Thriving Out West
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Cattle-Rustling.html

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Hi!
I'll take the one about the Pope listing some new sins! (Were we running low?)

Vatican lists "new sins" including pollution
Run time 2:49

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080310/ts_nm/pope_sins_dc;_ylt=AhL41nLuyCaiZkKS8t.65xMDW7oF

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008, 21:05 (GMT) Post subject:

I'll be taking a story from Yahoo news about "Real Death Star could strike the Earth", found here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080310/sc_space/realdeathstarcouldstrikeearth;_ylt=AkjyG.JvwPKR6QKwmDkfhn8DW7oF

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008, 21:06 (GMT) Post subject:

Cameron Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Posts: 479

I'll try this one I just found..."Creativity Jazzes Your Brain"

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-HealthBeat-Brain-on-Jazz.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Scott Paxton · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 187

Sorry I missed last week. I have been travelling in Montana.

I will take the WV Hunting in the classroom story. It is my home state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/us/08hunting.html?ei=5087&em=&en=238ffe0b3ddf1e49&ex=1205125200&pagewanted=print

Due to size, file sampled at 96K and in two parts

Time-07:21

Thanks

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008, 16:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Scott Pollak
"Real Death Star Could Strike Earth"
Yahoo News
TRT: 7:01

NOTE: File downsampled to 96k to enable upload here.

Roger Baker · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Jun 2006 Posts: 46

EDIT: Sorry Austin, but I had to change mine to this one:
Electronic Gadgets Full Of Computer Viruses. Here is the link:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337848,00.html

Run Time: 8:10

Thanks
Roger

John Weeks · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 186

I'll take this one about the Cattle Rustlers...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Cattle-Rustling.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

2:17

Craig Koepke · **Voice Talent** Joined: 31 Dec 2006 Posts: 422

Glass Baby Bottles Make a Comeback.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Parenting-Glass-Bottles.html

I think this would be of interest to elderly ones who did not have the option of plastic bottles but who perhaps witnessed their grand-children using nothing but plastic.

Cameron Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 06 Dec 2006 Posts: 479

Study: Creativity Jazzes Your Brain
New York Times
Runtime: 5:15

Ed White · **Voice Talent** Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 26

Evolutionary change allows women to adjust their balance, scientists say:
The Associated Press

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22217822/

3:25 sec

Scott Pollak · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008, 14:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Oops, posted this on wrong thread. Sorry.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008, 14:22 (GMT) Post subject:

Cam... interesting story! I love good jazz and have always leaned toward the creative side. I found this very, very intriguing.

Very nicely read, too!